Tensioning tool



Jain. 6, 1942. c. L. HINSDALE TENSICNING TOOL 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledMarch 26, 1940 CLARE- L. "mums Jan. 6, 1942. c. L. HINSDALE 2,269,090

TENSIONING TOOL v I Filed March 26, 1940 s Sheets-Sheet 2 g wue/wto cCLARE l.- H INSDALE 1942- c. L. HINSDALE' TENSIONING TOOL 3 Sheets-Sheet3 Fild March 26, 1940 CLARE L. H INSD ALE Patented Jan. 6, 1942 'rENs NNe r09 Clare L. Hinsdale, Warren, Qhio, assignor to Brainard SteelCorporation, Warren, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application March 26, 1940, Serial No.325fi96 11Claims. (o1. 254-66) 7 This invention relates to a tensioning tool fordrawing taut a band, strap, wire or other bindband and by its ability totighten the band or strap to the required tension by a rapid andsubstantially continuous operation when the tool is once attached to thestrap, regardless of the length of the strap or bandibeing tensione dand regardless of the compressibilityof thematerial making up thepackage being bound. The primary object of the invention is theprovision of v a tool having the desirable characteristics abovementioned and which is economical to construct and rugged in service. v

Another object of theinvention is ,the provision of a tool for thepurpose defined which tool is capable of effecting the desiredtensioning of a strap or band of undetermined length but whichnevertheless may be more conveniently manipulated by the operator. r H

Yet another object of the invention is the pro,- vision of a tool havingthe characteristics above enumerated which is capable of being used inany binding operation regardless of the shape or contour of the packagebeing bound.

These and other objects and advantages ofthe invention should becomeapparent from a considerationof the following detailed specification andthe attached drawings wherein there lisspecifically disclosed apreferred embodim nt of the invention.

In the drawings: a

Figure l is a side View of the tool oitheinvention and shows therelation of the tool to the package, binding and seal when in arepresenta- Figure 6 is a partial longitudinal section of the 991 F u e5.; a

. invention in the illustrated and preferred embodiment consists "of anassembly having a,

:l'ieadmehiber gill, a f xed-handle support H, a rack liar l2 rigidlyinterconnecting the head Ill and handle support, "and a frame l3reciprocably mounted on the rack bar i2 between the members 10' and II.A dowel pin [4 driven throughaligned apertures in the head l0 and therack bar I 2 adjacent one end of the latter rigidly secures the head 1 0Lon the rack bar. A dowel pin I 5 driven .throughaligned apertures inthe support H and the other endof the rack bar l2 rigidly fastens thesupport H to said other end of the ,rack ,bar.

Extending laterally outwardly from the lower portion of the head memberll] is a foot l5 which is provided with a tapering forward end It torest upon the box or other object being bound. The-taper is all on thebottom surface of Itheioot .,l 5ar 1d this allows the generallongitudinal axis ,of the tool to be inclined relative to the plane ofthe top surface of, the box being bound, thereby Placing thevtool moreconvenient position for foperation bythe user. 'Ifhe taper also resultsin small vertical thickness of the foot at the forward end thereof, theadvantage of which will appear later. Pivotally mounted in the upperportion of thejhead,n ember J0 isa toe H which extends downwardly andforwardly to av point substantially vertically .above the forwardv endof the tapered foot [5. As shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of thedrawingsthe tapered portion .l6.of the lat- ;erally extending foot I5 extendsoutwardly be yond theadjacent end of the rack bar l2 'andthe generaloutline of the head l0 and the toe l'l overlies the tapered portion ofthe foot. Toell ispivotally carried by the head in by means of the pin I8 received within a transverse bore in I the upper portion of the headIll. Said bore may intersectthe aperture in the upper portion of thehead In receivingthe dowel pin I4 and by providing the pin 3withacircumierential groove 19 th pin l l may be utilized to prevent'with-v drawal of the pin I8 The latter is provided with an enlargedhead?!) to retain the toe I I.

To I1 is urged to downward position and in engagement with the foot l5by a coil spring 2] "(Figure 3) having one oftits ends seated in a dwellformedin the toe l1 and having its other,

dwellformed in the body'of the end seated in a ihe d membe l!- tian r rssee q t id f Pivotally carried by means of a pin 22 journalled in thehead In is a strap retaining dog 23 having a serrated rounded bottom endto engage the upper surface of the foot I5. As apparent from aninspection of Figures 1 and 3, the pin 22 extends substantially parallelwith the pin I 8 and is adapted to rotate about its principal axis tomove the lower end of the dog 23 toward and away from the upper surfaceof the foot I5. The length of the dog 23 is somewhat longer than theshortest distance between the upper surface of the foot and the axis ofrotation of the pin 22 and dog 23 so that clockwise rotation of the dog23, as viewed in Figure 1, will be limited and such rotation will resultin tight gripping contact between the serrated end and the foot I orbetween said end and a strap or other binding material positionedbetween the foot and the dog. A small coil spring 24 may be employed toresiliently urge the dog 23 to gripping position.

Loosely mounted on the rack bar I2 for sliding movement thereon is aframe I3 which carries a laterally extending foot 25 and a pivotallymounted dog 23 similar in design and operation to the dog 23. Grippingdog 26 is carried by the laterally extending pin 21 pivotally mounted inthe frame I3 above the rack bar I2 and a spring 23 is employed to urgethe dog 26 to strap gripping position. Bar I2, provided along its topwith a series of rack teeth and a pinion 3| mounted on a pin 32extending through aligned apertures in the frame I3, is provided withteeth 33 meshing with the rack teeth 33. Pivotally mounted on the pin 32is a handle 34 having a bifurcated lower end fitting about the pinion3|. To provide a positive driving connection between the handle 34 andthe pinion 3|, a tooth 35, received within a recess in the handle 34 atthe base of the bifurcations and midway therebetween, is adapted toextend between ad- 'jacent teeth on the pinion.

Iandle 34 is provided at its outer end with a ball hand grip portion.Extending outwardly and upwardly from the support II is a handle 3?preferably knurled on its outer surface and in the operation of the toolthe operator normally grasps the handle 3'! with one hand and the grip36 with the other.

It should be apparent that the construction of the strap gripping means23 and 2B is such that the strap is prevented from moving in onedirection relative to the gripping means while permitted to move in theopposite direction relative thereto. By referring to Figure 1, thestrap, which is indicated by the reference numeral 40, may move to theright relative to the gripping dog 23 but is prevented from moving tothe left by the binding which occurs between the dog and the foot I5.Similarly, the strap is permitted to move to the right relative to thegripping dog 25 but is prevented from moving in the other directionrelative thereto.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 which show a representative use of thetool, the strap 40 is indicated as being encircled about a box or bale Mto be bound. One end of the strap 40 is threaded through a metallic seal42 of conventional construction. and looped under the lower wall of theseal at 43. The strap passes from this loop through seal 42, under footl5, around the box or bale, through seal 42, between foot I5 and toe I!and then under the two successive gripping dogs 23 and 25. The outer endsurfaces of the foot l5 and the toe II abut against the adjacent end ofthe seal 42 or other strap anchoring means, thus providing an anchor forthe looped end of the strap while the tensioning and sealing of thestrap is takingplace.

As the lever 34 is manipulated the frame I3 will be moved back and forthrelative to the bar I2, the foot I5 and the gripping dog 23 and as it ismoved to the right, as viewed in Figure 1, it will pull the strap withit because of the binding between foot 25 and dog 26 and the strap willbe held in its advanced position by the dog 23. As the fram I3 moves tothe left the gripping means 25, 26 will override the strap preparatoryto a new grip thereon. This process can be repeated indefinitely,regardless of the length of the encircling band, its looseness, and thecharacter of the box or bale being bound, until the proper tension iseffected in the encircled band. When this is accomplished a sealing toolcan be applied to the seal I2 to crimp the seal and the overlappedreaches of the strap close therein together to prevent separation orloosening of the band when the tensioning tool is removed. It should bobserved that by tapering the foot i5, as at I6, the thickness of thefoot at its outer extremity is substantially reduced and this enablesthe seal 42 to be positioned immediately outward of the outer surface ofthe bale whereby there is no loss of tension when the tools are removedupon completion of the tensioning and sealing operations. Also, thetaper I6 permits the tool to be positioned at an angle to the top planeof the box which in most instances affords a more convenient operatingposition.

In the modified form of the tool illustrated in Figures 5 through '7 therack bar 52, which corresponds in general to the bar I2 of the firstform, is made of round stock, as indicated in Figure '7, to enable theparts of the tool to be more economically produced and assembled. Thusthe bores through head 50, frame 53 and handle support 5|, which partscorrespond to the head I0, frame I3 and handle support II of the firstform, may be round and may therefore be more easily effected in theparts. A portion of the bar 52 is flattened at 62 and gear teeth 60 formeshing with the teeth on the pinion 3| are cut into a part of the fiatportion 62. J ournaled on the pin 21, which secures the gripping dog 26,is a roller 6'! which is received within a recess in the frame 53 andwhich is adapted to contact the smooth portion of the flattened section52 of the bar 52. As indicated in Figure 7, the line of contact of theroller 61 with the surface 62 is of substantial length and this, bypreventing relative rotation between the bar 52 and the frame 53,insures the parallelism of the foot '65 of the frame 53 with the foot'56 of the head 50 without relying on the contact between the pinion andthe teeth 60. At the same time this prevents the driving force frombeing concentrated at either extreme end of the rack and pinion teeth.

A transverse bore 51 is provided at the base of the bifurcations of theoperating lever 54, which bore opens into the space between thebifurcations and a locking key 55, having a gear tooth engagingprojection, is forced into the same. Each of the gripping dogs 23 and 23is provided with an upwardly extending lever 68 having a channeled lowerend to fit about the upper portion of the gripping dogs and are held inplace by the heads of the pins 22 and 21, When it is desired to removethe tool from the strap while the strap is under tension, it isnecessary to first back off this tension. This is done by firstreleasing dog 26 by means of its lever 68 and moving the frame 53 to itsrearward position adjacent the support Dog 26 is now lowered intocontact with the strap and by a slight continued rearward movement ofthe frame 53 the same will engage the tension of the strap and the dog23 may be released by engaging its lever 68. The tension may now bepartially relieved by moving frame 53 towards the tool head 50 and thedog 23 again allowed to contact the strap. By repeating thesemanipulations as often as required the tension in the strap may beentirely reduced, allowing the tool to be removed.

It should now be apparent that I have provided an improved straptensioning tool which satisfactorily accomplishes the objects initiallyset out. When the tool is to be applied it may be grasped at" the handle31 by one hand of the operator and by reason of the rigid connectionbetween the handle 31 and the head ID the head may easily be moved toits proper position. The other hand of the operator may be used to placethe strap'between the foot l5 and the toe l1 and dog 23 and between thefoot 25 and the dog 26. While maintaining a grip on the handle 31 withone hand, the operator may grip the ball 36 with his other hand andproceed with the tensioning of the band. As stated above, this operationmay continue uninterrupted until the proper tension is effected in thestrap.

The above specifically described embodiments of the invention should beconsidered as illustrative only as obviously many changes may be madetherein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Forexample, it should be obvious that other means than that specifically toone end of said bar, a handle extending upwardly and outwardly from theother end of said bar, a pivotally mounted strap engaging dog overlyinga portion of said foot and adapted to prevent movement of a strapextending between said dog and said foot in one direction relative tosaid foot but allowing relative movement thereof in the-oppositedirection, a pivotally mounted toe extending downwardly and outwardlyfrom the upper portion of said member and having its outer end overlyingthe outer end of said foot, the outer end surfaces of said foot and toeadapted to abut against the end of a strap seal or other strap anchoringmeans with a reach of said strap extending between said toe and foot, aframe slidably mounted on said rack bar, a pinion gear journaled in saidframe and meshing with said rack teeth, a lever pivotally mounted onsaid frame and operatively connected with said pinion whereby rockingmovement of said lever results in sliding movement of said framerelative to said bar, a laterally extending foot carried by said frame,a pivotally mounted strip engaging dog carried by said frame and adaptedto clamp said strap to said last mentioned foot in such manner that thestrap is free to move in one direction relative to said last mentionedfoot but is prevented from moving in the other direction relativethereto.

2. A strap tensioning tool comprising in combination a rack bar havingrack teeth on one face thereof intermediate the ends thereof, a memberhaving a laterally extending foot secured to one end of said bar, ahandle extending upwardly and outwardly from the other end of said bar,a strap engaging dog overlying a portion of said foot and adapted toprevent movement of a strap extending between said dog and said foot inone direction relative to said foot but allowing relative movementthereof in the opposite direction, the outer end surface of said footadapted to abut against the end of a strap seal or other strap anchoringmeans, a frame slidably mounted on said rack bar, a pinion gearjournaled in said frame and meshing with said rack teeth, a leverpivotally mounted on said frame and operatively connected with saidpinion whereby rocking movement of said lever results in slidingmovement of said frame relativeto said bar, a later- I ally extendingfoot carried by said frame, a strap engaging dog overlying a part ofsaid last mentioned foot and adapted to prevent movement of the strap inone direction relative to said foot.

3. A strap tensioning tool comprising in combination a rack bar havingrack teeth on one face thereof intermediate the ends. thereof, a strapgripping member carried by said bar adjacent one end thereof and beingoperative to restrain movement of the strap in one direction whilepermitting movement thereof in the other direction relative to said bar,an end surface carried by said bar to abut a strap seal or other strapanchoring means, a frame slidably mounted on said rack bar, a piniongear journaled in said frame and meshing with said rack teeth, a leverpivotally mounted on said frame and operatively connected with saidpinion whereby rocking movement of saidlever results in sliding movementof said frame relative to said bar, a strap gripping device carried bysaid frame and'being operative to restrain movement of the strap in onedirection while permitting movement thereof in the other directionrelative to said frame, and a handle attached to the other end of saidrack bar.

4. A strap tensioning tool comprising in combination an elongated barhaving a strap gripping device carried by one end thereof and a handleattached to the other end thereof, an end surface at the said one end ofsaid bar to abut a strap seal or other strap anchoring means, a frameslidably mounted on said bar intermediate the ends thereof, a leverinterconnecting said bar and frame whereby rocking movement of saidlever results in reciprocal movement of said frame relative to said bar,a second strap gripping'device carried by said frame, said strapgripping devices being operative to restrain movement of the strap inone direction only whereby the strap is tensioned upon reciprocation ofsaid frame.

5. A strap tensioning tool comprising in combination an elongated barhaving a member with a laterally extending foot attached to one endthereof and a handle attached to the other end thereof, said footextending outwardly beyond the end of the said bar, a strap grippingdevice carried by said member and adapted to cooperate with said foot torestrict movement of a strap lying on said foot in one direction, a toepivotally mounted on said member and having a downwardly and outwardlyextending end overlying the outward end of said foot, a frame slidablymounted on said bar intermediate its ends, a strap gripping devicecarried by said'frame and being operative to prevent movement of saidstrap in one direction relative to said frame, and a leverinterconnecting said bar and said frame whereby said frame may be movedback and forth along said bar, said strap gripping devices beingoperative to restrain movement of the strap in one direction onlywhereby the strap is tensioned upon reciprocation of said frame.

6. A strap tensioning tool comprising in combination an elongated barhaving a strap gripping device carried by one end thereof and a handleattached to the other end thereof, a frame slidably mounted on said barintermediate the ends thereof, a strap gripping device carried by saidframe, means to reciprocate said frame on said bar comprising anoutwardly extending manually engageable lever, said gripping devicesbeing operative to restrain movement of a strap in one and the samedirection relative to said bar but permitting movement of the strap inthe other direction relative thereto whereby the strap is tensioned uponreciprocation of said frame.

'7. A strap tensioning tool comprising in combination an elongated. barhaving a strap gripping device carried by one end thereof and a handleattached to the other end thereof, a frame slidably mounted on said barintermediate the ends thereof, said bar having a flattened portion, aroller carried by said frame and engaging said flattened portion, saidroller being mounted by said frame for rotation about an axis transverseto the longitudinal axis of said bar, a strap gripping device carried bysaid frame, means to reciprocate said frame on said bar, said grippingdevices being operative to restrain movement of a strap in one and thesame direction relative to said bar but permitting movement of the strapin the other direction relative thereto whereby the strap is tensionedupon reciprocation of said frame.

8. A strap tensioning tool comprising in combination an elongated roundbar having a strap gripping device carried by one end thereof and ahandle attached to the other end thereof, a frame having a bore toreceive said bar and slidably mounted on said bar intermediate the endsthereof, a strap gripping device carried by said frame, said bar havinga flattened portion, a roller journaled in said frame and adapted tocontact said flattened portion, said roller being mounted for rotationabout an axis transverse to the principal axis of said bar, means toreciprocate said frame on said bar, said gripping devices beingoperative to restrain movement of a strap in one and the same directionrelative to said bar but permitting movement of the strap in the otherdirection relative thereto whereby the strap is tensioned uponreciprocation of said frame.

9. Apparatus according to claim 6 further including resilient means tourge said strap gripping means into engagement with the strap, and amanually engageable handle connected with each of said strap grippingdevices to move said devices away from engagement with said strap.

10. A strap tensioning tool comprising in combination relatively movablemembers each carrying strap gripping devices, means to move said memberstoward and away from each other, said strap gripping devices eachcomprising a pivotally mounted dog and resilient means to urge said doginto engagement with said strap, a pin pivotally mounting each of saiddogs, a handle for manually retracting each of said dogs against theforce of said resilient means comprising a member having a channeledportion adapted to over lie a portion of each of said dogs, and a headon each of said pins to retain said handles in operative positionsrelative to said dogs.

11. A strap tensioning tool comprising in combination a member having aforwardly extending projection to abut against the end of a strap sealor other strap anchoring means, a strap gripping device carried by saidmember rearwardly of the forward end of said projection, a frame carriedwith saidmember and adapted to be moved toward and away from said strapgripping device, a second strap gripping device carried by said framerearwardly of said first mentioned strap gripping device, said grippingdevices being both operative to restrain movement of a strap in one andthe same direction relative to said member but permitting movement ofthe strap in the other direction relative thereto whereby the strap istensioned upon reciprocation of said frame relative to said member, andmeans to move said frame towards and away from said first mentionedstrap gripping device.

CLARE L. HINSDALE.

